


Saber Rattling

by Araloth



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant through season 4, Gen, M/M, Post Season 4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2019-02-03 02:25:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12739119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Araloth/pseuds/Araloth
Summary: My take on the end of season four and what I though the show might have been setting up.Following the siege of Naxzela, and Lotor's actions Keith and the team work to figure out what Lotor is up to and what their next move should be.Or: My way of trying to solve the six paladins and five lions problem, as well as my theory on who Keith's mother could possibly have been





	1. Chapter 1

            Lotor's ship jumped out of hyperspace and he quickly took stock of the situation. A Galra cruiser is being hammered by rebel ships, their pitiful armaments not even making a dent in the energy shield protecting Haggar's contraption. Voltron is nowhere to be seen but Lotor is sure it's nearby. 

            For their fruitless efforts Lotor had to admit the rebel pilots could fly-especially whoever was in the Galra fighter, maneuvering effortlessly even with a singed wing. They had all the tenacity of a true Galra warrior. The fighter shifted suddenly, flying on a collision with the energy shield and Lotor saw his opportunity. He slammed the throttle on his ship forward, guns blazing.

            "Attention Paladins of Voltron and rebel fighters: I know we’ve had our differences in the past-but I think is time we had a discussion.”

 

***

            Voltron arrived a few dobashes later. The Paladins broke apart into their separate Lions and encircled Lotor's ship.

            "Prince Lotor-" Shiro's voice came over the Black Lion's speaker, with all the authority he could muster "Power down your ship and stand by to be towed. We'll escort you into the castle when it arrives."

            "Is all this really necessary?" Lotor drawled, reaching to power down his ship regardless. "We are all allies now after all."

            "We will never be allies Lotor." The princess' voice crackled with barely contained anger. "You-"

            "Even after I saved your lives?" Lotor grinned. He could only imagine the princess' face. Still better not to push it too far. "Regardless I am willing to comply." He switched his ship's engines and weapons off and waited for the other Altean to arrive with the castle, soon to be his prison if the princess' intent was any indication. He grimaced. But then what other options did he have?

 

***

            "You want me to investigate Lotor's ship?" Keith asked baffled. "Why not Pidge or Hunk?"

            Having secured both Lotor and his ship safety aboard the castle, Lotor to a locked room far away from the hanger, the Paladins finally had a moment to catch their breath. But after everything they had been through with the Galra Empire Shiro wasn't taking any chances. He nodddd. "Pidge and Hunk will help scour the tech but you're the only one here who can both access Galra systems and read the language."

            Keith frowned. It was true working with the Blades he'd acquired a basic working knowledge of the Galra language, but he was pretty far from an expert. And Keith was still having trouble fully focusing-the end of the battle kept playing out in his head again and again. If Lotor hadn't shown up...Keith suppressed a shudder. In the moment he had been ready to do it-to do anything to save the team-but it was just now starting to fully hit him. He took a deep breath trying to steady himself.

            "Look Shiro-"

            Shiro threw a quick glance over his shoulder, and seeing the other Paladins all trading stories from the battle, ushered Keith down one of the side hallways off the hanger, out of sight and earshot of the rest of the team.

            "Wha-?" Keith started to ask.

            "Are you okay?" Shiro asked voice full of concern. "Matt- he told me what you were about to do..."

            Keith swallowed. _So he knows_. "I'm-I'll be okay Shiro."

            "Good." Shiro sighed and pulled Keith into a tight hug. "Don't ever try and pull something like that again. It's not worth it."

            Keith pulled back suddenly and glared at Shiro. "It was. And don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing-"

            Shiro shook his head. "Of course I wouldn't-"

            "Matt and the arena." Keith bit out.

            "That..." Shiro paused struggling to find the words for what he was wanted to say. "That was different." He finished lamely.

            "It was the same and you know it." Keith said stubbornly. "You threw yourself into the ring to protect him."

            "I wouldn't have died..." Shiro said quietly.

            Keith sighed. "You didn't know that. Not for sure."

            "Look" Shiro sounded every bit as tried as he looked. "Just...promise me you won't do it again. Please."

            Keith shook his head slowly. "You know I can't do that. You, the team, Voltron, I care about you all too much not to try everything to protect you. The universe needs you guys."

            Shiro smiled sadly. "And what about everybody who cares about you?"

            Keith shrugged. "I'd hope they understood." He said quietly. "In the fight against Zarkhan one life is less important then the whole."

            Shiro nodded slowly. "All the same...I'm glad it didn't come to that."

            Keith smiled in spite of himself. "Me too." He turned ready go rejoins the others and stopped when he felt Shiro's hand in his shoulder.

            "Keith-I" Shiro broke off. "I just want you to know that you can talk to me. I, I know things have been a bit weird between us since I got back..."

 _Got back._ That was certainly a nice way of putting the hell Shiro had been through. "I know Shiro." Keith said quietly. "And thanks." Keith turned back to the hanger again and paused, "just-don't tell the others okay? They'll only worry..."

            "Okay." Shiro watched Keith carefully. "You're sure you're okay?"

            Keith nodded. "I will be."

            Shiro smiled and squeezed Ketih's shoulder gently. "I'm going to hold you too that."

            Keith smirked. "Yes sir."

***

            "Hey there you are!" Pidge's voice was both excited and accusatory. "Where have you been? Hunk and I are ready to crack this thing open."

            "You don't think they'll be like a bomb or something inside do you?" Hunk twitched nervously. "Cause I’ve had more then enough of those today already."

            "Only one way to find out." Keith lowered his hand into the lock and the door beeped in recognition, swinging open for them to enter.

            "Oh wow..." Pidge was beaming. "Look at all this stuff... "

            "These systems don't look anything like the lions." Hunk slid down into a seat and called up the computer. "Keith do you mind?"

            Keith swiped his hand over the computer and the display unlocked. Keith swept his eyes around the cockpit carefully. Everything seemed harmless enough. "You guys stay here for a minute I'm going to check down below and see what's there."

            Pidge nodded mindlessly, already engrossed in some of the data files. "We'll call you if we need anything translated."

            Keith ducked down into the ships cargo hold. There were large piles of parts, and it looked like at least five deactivated sentries, likely leftover from Lotor's work in building his ships. And then Keith rounded the corner and saw it. The comet: or at least what was left of it. The chunk that remained still easily dwarfed Keith, and looked to be more then enough for another ship. Keith approached it cautiously.

            The comet seemed to glow in the dim light of Lotor’s ship. Keith held a hand up to it curiously. “So you’re what started all this…”

            Somewhere within the comet there was a flash of recognition, and Keith felt a sudden presence, not the full intelligence of one of the one lions, but similar enough to unnerve him. He pulled his hand back at once.

            “Hey are you okay?” Hunk called down poking his head into the cargo hold. “There was some kind of weird power surge up here and the lights flickered.”

            “Yeah.” Keith was still watching the comet carefully, unsure just what he had experienced. “Yeah I’m okay. I’m coming up.”

            “Alright just making sure.” Hunk’s head withdrew back into the cockpit, and Keith carefully navigating the hold followed a moment later. Hunk had pulled a panel off one of the ships displays and was examining some of the wires while Pidge frowned at a message on her screen.

            “Does this mean what I think it does?” Pidge asked bitterly, turning to give Keith a clearer view of the message.

            “Um…” Keith scanned it quickly. “it looks like Lotor whipped most of the ship’s records clean.”

            Pidge sighed. “That’s what I was afraid of. C’mon Hunk we’ve gotten what we can for now. Let’s see if there’s any information about the Empire in here we didn’t already have.”

            “Roger that.” Hunk stood up slowly and stretched. “So why do you guys think Lotor just gave himself up anyways?”

            “I don’t know.” Keith had been wondering the same thing ever since Lotor’s announcement. “But something tells me we’re going to have to find out.”

 

***

            Once they’d finished searching the ship Allura had insisted on locking it down farther below in a smaller hanger underneath the lions. There it would be nearly impossible for Lotor to access, and even should he get to his ship, the ship would be unable to leave the castle without someone raising the ship up a level.

            Allura watched happily as the doors sealed locking it safely away. One less problem to worry about for the moment. In the wake of battle the coalition was in desperate need of some reaffirmation, and Allura and Shiro had been fielding calls left and right, letting their allies know what had happened on Naxzela, and where they would go from here. Even without taking the planet it had been a great day for Voltron and their allies, but the knowledge of what the Galra had almost achieved was a dark cloud over any celebration that might have occurred. Allura sighed, sparing one last look at the closing hanger doors, and made her way back up to the control room.

            Isolated, and unobserved in the darkness, a lone sentry deep in the bowels of Lotor’s ship sputtered to life.

 

***

            Over a week had passed and still no progress had been made with Lotor. Pidge and Hunk had been unable to find anything of much use in the data they were able to recover from Lotor's ship, which left just one alternative on which to build their purposed partnership-actually talking to Lotor.

            Thus far that had been a disaster. The few times Shiro was able to spare time to speak with Lotor had made almost no progress in understanding what the exiled prince actually wanted. Talks with Allura had gone even worse, with Lotor managing to push the princess' buttons enough to drive her to storm out of the room. Neither Pidge or Hunk had any interest in the job, and Lance for all his enthusiasm had been ruled out for similar reasons to Allura.

            Which was how Keith had come to find himself standing outside the door to Lotor's room. As Coran had pointed out Keith was the only person in the castle familiar enough with Lotor, who also had the time to spare. Even if things had gone better with one of the others they could have been called away at any moment to have to form Voltron. With Keith that was no longer an issue. Shiro had been the one to first purpose Keith for the job in front of him, and while Keith had hoped Kolivan would be unwilling to spare him, the Blade's leader had whole heartedly supported the idea. Kolivan had even sent Keith some files he though might help with what little the Blades knew about Lotor, and some history of the Galra empire. Keith sighed and punched in the entry code.

            The door chimmed merrily and swung open. Lotor was lounging on a sofa in the far corner of the room, stretched out along its length. He made no motion to greet Keith and only flicked his eyes lazily over him.

            "And who have they sent to entertain me today?" Lotor drawled.

            Keith shut the door behind him and took one of the two chairs at the room's table. The quarters they'd proved for Lotor were very nice as far as such things went Keith supposed, more spacious even then any of the rooms the Paladins used, but it was still a sort of prison. Keith set down his tablet on the table and glared across the room at Lotor. "Well?"

            "Well what?" Lotor sneered. "I was the one who asked you a question."

            "I'm not here to answer you're questions I'm here for you to answer mine." Keith growled.

            "Mmm." Lotor smirked and seemed to consider Keith for a moment. "That's not really how alliances work those is it?

            "Alliances are built on trust." Keith fumed. "And that's not exactly something anyone here has for you."

            Lotor laughed. "You have some fire in you. I like that." He flipped off the couch gracefully and strode over to the table. He slid into the chair opposite Keith, watching him all the while. "With an attitude like that I'm guessing...the Red Paladin?"

            "Not anymore." Keith said. "Now-"

            "Interesting." Lotor interjected. "I'd gathered there was a switch in the roster at some point...I take it you were the Red Paladin who fought my father though? I give you credit for that at least."

            Keith frowned. "How do you-"

            "Please." Lotor waved his hand dismissively. "I gathered all the information the Empire had on your little band when I took the throne."

            "Your ships." Keith said pointedly calling up an image of the two ships Lotor had made from the comet on the tablet and turning it to Lotor. "Why did you make them and where is the other one?"

            "You could I say I had something of a...falling out with my generals. I haven't the faintest idea where they or the other ship are." Lotor said smoothly.

            "And what about the comet?" Keith asked. "You still have some of it in your ship and you went though a fair amount of work just to make ships from it."

            Lotor studied Keith carefully. "You were in my ship?"

            "Obviously." Keith scoffed. "We weren't going to leave it on board without checking it."

            "But you specifically." Lotor grinned. "Oh I see now...Your the paladin Axca spoke of."

            Keith glared at Lotor. "What's that supposed to mean?"

            "You're the paladin with Galra ancestry." Lotor said smugly.

            Keith frowned. "So one of my parents was Galra what does that-"

            Lotor leaned back from the table and smirked. "Oh I doubt that very much."

            "What?" Keith asked baffled. "But you just said-and you know I can access Galra tech..."

            "Oh I have no doubt about you having Galra blood. But-your parent as you said- couldn't have been pure Galra."

            Keith was growing more and more frustrated with Lotor's stupid games- but he was intrigued all the same. "What do you mean?"

            "Look at me." Lotor laughed. "I'm half Galra. As are all of my generals you mentioned. You on the other hand..." He waved a hand at Keith. "You have no discernible Galra traits at all."

            Keith frowned. He supposed Lotor was right. Keith had never really thought of it like that. He shook his head. "Let's get back to the ships..."

***

 

            Keith groaned and flopped down on the lounge’s sofa. The rest of the team, and Coran, filed in just a minute later. “Sorry Shiro…everything with him is just these stupid games…”

            “It doesn’t make any sense.” Pidge frowned. “Why would Lotor bother to seek us out if he doesn’t actually want to cooperate?”

            “I’m not sure Lotor knows what he wants.” Shiro said thoughtfully. “That bit about his generals is interesting. If they really aren’t working together anymore-“

            “Hold on-“ Allura interjected. “You believe him?”

            “I don’t know.” Shiro sighed. “But if it’s true and we could confirm it, we might be able to start actually developing some trust with Lotor.”

            “Shouldn’t he trust us anyways?” Hunk laughed. “I mean c’mon we’re the good guys here.”

            Lance snorted. “I doubt he sees it that way.”

            “Pidge were you and Hunk able to pull anything usable from the data on Lotor’s ship?” Shiro asked.

            “No.” Pidge grumbled. “Almost all of the important systems have been whipped clean and what little data is left is so jumbled it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

            “Sorry looking for a needle in a what now?” Corn asked.

            “Hay…” Pidge gestured aimlessly. “It’s uh-it’s like a grain on Earth. It’s not important.”

            “But if you knew what you were looking for specifically…” Shiro said. “so you could narrow down the search parameters-what then?”

            Pidge shrugged and exchanged a look with Hunk. “If we were looking for something specific then maybe. But it would still have to be information that was stored outside of the ship’s main memory banks.”

            Shiro nodded. “Alright Pidge- you, Hunk, and Keith take another run at Lotor’s ship then. See if you can find anything that might point to this falling out with his generals being true. If it was as bad as Lotor made it sound the ship might have some record of it. ”

 

***

            The three of them made their way down to the hanger. Keith still felt drained from his interrogation of Lotor, but if he could help confirm something Lotor had said was true then it would almost make the hours going round and round in circles with the Galra prince worth it.

            “Okay Allura open the hatch.” Keith called out.

            In answer the panels began to slowly retract, revealing the lower hanger bit by bit. Pidge and Hunk we’re deep in a conversation about where they should look for the data Shiro wanted, so Keith was the one who saw it first.

            “What the-“

            Pidge and Hunk shot Keith confused looks.

            “What’s up-oh” Hunk said, seeing it now too.

            Pidge gasped. “Quiznak…”

            “Shiro, Allura?” Keith called out. “I think we have another problem.” There in the hanger, was not one but two ships, or rather Lotor’s ship and another almost completed one. The sentries from Lotor’s ship had somehow powered on. They were building the new ship from what looked like the comet, spare parts from Lotor's ship, and in a few cases pieces of their own bodies. As he looked closer Keith noticed there were even a few pieces missing from the engines of Lotor’s ship, likely cannibalized to build the new one. _What in the world was going on?_

 

***

            “This is impossible.” Allura gasped. “I’ve been monitoring the ship. All of the security feeds have shown everything as perfectly normal-“

            “I’m guessing whatever took over these sentries had it’s way with the cameras too.” Pidge frowned, elbow deep in one of the sentry robot’s heads. “I’ve never seen anything like this. Lotor had them redesigned for ship building but something else switched them on.”

            “This ship looks different then the other two Lotor had built too.” Hunk ran his hand along the metal cautiously. “It’s definitely still made up of the comet but it’s design and energy readings are totally different.”

            Even Keith could tell there was something different about the ship. For one it was smaller the Lotor’s other two crafts, looking to be designed to only sit a single pilot. The cockpit was a small center module, surrounded by four large flexible wings, each equipped with an engine not unlike the thrusters in the feet and tails of the Voltron lions. The outer hull was a sleek black metal, whether chosen for some unknown design reason or because it was what Lotor’s ship had in its storage bay, Keith couldn’t say, but he liked the look of the ship much more then the other two Lotor had produced. It looked…powerful, deadly, and judging by it’s design incredibly maneuverable.

            “Pidge- you and Hunk run some tests and see what we’re dealing with here. Lance give them a hand if they need anything.” Shiro said. “Allura I think you, Keith, and I need to go ask Prince Lotor some more questions…”

***

            Lotor smirked as the door chimed open. “All three of you now? My what have I done to deserve such attention…”

            “Enough games Lotor.” Allura snapped.

            Lotor laughed. “Always so quick to anger princess…”

            “Tell us what you’ve done with the comet.” Shiro said calmly.

            Lotor’s smile slipped just a little. “I’m afraid I don’t follow. Last I knew I’d given it to you, safe and secure in my ship.” There was a definite edge to Lotor’s voice now. “If you’ve somehow lost it I can hardly be held accountable-“

            Keith slid a tablet with images of the new ship across the table to Lotor. “What did you do?”

            Lotor studied the images carefully. Keith though he saw a flicker of shock on his face, before the prince completely masked his reaction. “I don’t know how things work on whatever backwater you all call home…” Lotor’s voice was ice cold now. “but in most civilized society this isn’t the way to start an alliance. Dismantling parts of my own ship. Stealing from me-

            “Please.” Allura huffed angrily. “It was the Galra sentries _you_ brought here that built that thing.”

            “What?” Lotor seemed genuinely confused.

            “Your sentries must have been receiving instructions from somewhere.” Shiro was watching Lotor like hawk. “You’re saying you have no idea how that might have happened?”

            “That’s not possible.” Lotor sneered. “I repurposed those sentries myself. They’re fool proof.” Lotor scowled. “I don’t know what you’re trying to achieve here paladin but I assure you, I am not to be trifled with.”

            “Understood.” Shiro turned back towards the door. “We have a few more tests to run. Given the circumstances I’m sure you understand. And like wise Prince Lotor, if we discover you’re conducting operations within the castle without our approval-they’re will be consequences.”

 

***

            “What were you able to get Pidge?” Shiro asked when they finally made it back to the hanger.

            Pidge shrugged. “Not much new. The ship seems safe enough to leave here for now. I wouldn’t say harmless, it has the same fire power Lotor’s ship does and the engines are fully operational, but as far I can tell it’s just a ship.”

            “We didn’t find anything to explain freaky zombie sentry production.” Hunk nodded. “Sorry Shiro.”

            “What should we do with it? Lance asked. “Just leave here? Seal it back up?”

            Before anyone could answer alarms began blaring in the castle.

            Coran’s voice crackled urgently over the speaker. “Paladins get to your lions! A Galra fleet is headed straight for Naxzela!”

            “If the Galra retake the planet they can push back against the rebels!” Pidge cried.

            “And get any forces trapped behind our line of defense safely out.” Allura added bitterly.

            “Coran get the wormhole ready-“ Shiro called back. “We’re headed to the lions now!”

            Keith watched with a strange detachment as the rest of the team all ran off to their lions. It felt strange to be doing nothing, Keith couldn’t even try and help in the captured Galra fighter he’d used before, the wing finally breaking down too much to fly. At a loss he made his way slowly to the bridge where at least he could observe the fight better and maybe help Coran if the castle had to engage.

            “Here we go.” Coran fired up the wormhole and Keith watched as the lions flew through in formation, the castle right on their tails. They emerged on the other side to utter chaos. Hundreds of Galra ships swarmed them, with even more fighters and drones.

            “Form Voltorn!” Keith could hear Shiro’s voice over the comm, and realized as he watched this was the first time he’d seen Voltron formed from the outside.

            “Particle barriers up” Coran said cheerfully. “We’ll provide you covering fire if you need it.”

            “Thanks Coran.” Shiro called back. “Okay Hunk-form shoulder cannon.”

            “On it!”

            The canon appeared and Voltron fired a large swath lasers across the fleet.

            “Yeah alright!” Keith listened as the paladins cheered and called instructions to one another. It was strange to be seeing the battle unfold from this perspective.

            Coran clapped Keith on the shoulder and smiled. “The Galra may have the numbers but that won’t stop Voltron. We’ll have this mopped up in no time.”

            No sooner had Coran spoken then another call came into the castle.

            “Yes hello?” Coran called.

            “Voltron!” The static cleared and Keith could make out the face of an Olkarian. “Please help us!”

            “I don’t understand…” Coran frowned “What seems to be the problem?”

            “This!” The view shifted to a strange monster, not unlike a turtle-a robeast Keith knew. It’s back looked to be covered in a heavy metal shell, and it was firing lasers from its maw of a mouth. “The monster fell from the sky! Our attacks are having no effect on it. If it advances much further it will reach the city-“

            “Oh no…” Coran moaned. “Paladins-“

            A cry from Voltron wrenched Keith and Coran’s attention back to the battle at hand. A second robeast was flying right for Voltron, it’s body almost like a jellyfish, long electrified tentacles grasping for Voltron.

            “We’ve got problems of our Coran.” Shiro said bitterly as one of the tentacles sent a jolt up Voltron’s neck. “Can you wormhole back to Olkarian-“

            “If I leave now I won’t have enough of Allura’s essence to come back for you!” Coran cried. “You’d all be stuck here!”

            “Ufff…” Allura groaned as the blue lion caught a flick of the monsters tentacle. “We can’t abandon the Olkari! Could we break apart into the lions-“

            “It’s too risky!” Pidge shouted back. “That thing's attacks pack a big punch now but the energy’s being dissipated throughout a larger body. If it caught just one of the lions it might fry us!”

            “So what do we do?” Lance growled.

            “Pidge watch on you right!” Hunk yelled.

            All the while the destruction on Olkarian kept playing on the monitor. If the monster got to the city-or to the refugee settlements- Time seemed to slow down for Keith. There had to be something he could do to help his friends…for everyone…        

            A strange feeling washed over Keith. Suddenly he knew what he needed to do. “Coran. Coran!” He shouted pulling the older Altean’s attention away from the battle before him. ‘You said you have enough of Allura’s energy for a wormhole right?”

            “Yes but not to get back!” Coran said desperately. “We’d need-“

            “I’ll just need the one way ticket!” Keith ran over to the red chair and called up the zipline to the hanger.

            “What are you doing?” Coran asked baffled.

            “We’ve got a perfectly good ship just sitting down in that hanger.” Keith said quickly. “I’ll take it and see if I can help the Olkari any.” And with that he was gone, taking the old but familiar path down to the hanger bay. Only instead of having Red or Black waiting for him it was an untested, unknown fighter. _Pidge said it was safe_ Keith reminded himself, trying to stop his own churning worry. _Right now that’s all that matters_.

            When Keith landed in the hanger he broke into a sprint, rushing to the new ship. The hatch opened without any problems and Keith stepped inside. He hadn’t had a chance to dig out his old Paladin uniform, so instead he’d thrown on the next best thing in his Blade of Marmora suit. The controls to the ship seemed simple enough, almost a more streamlined version of the lion’s consul. He powered up the ship as slowly as he dared. He almost immediately discovered that the ship was even more unique then he’d realized. The four wings of the ship while secure, were articulated, being able to bend and rotate to countless positions. Keith spun them around behind him into an almost V shape. “Okay Cornan…” Keith tried to ignore the shakiness in his voice. “Ready when you are.”

            “Wormholing in five ticks…” Coran’s worry was evident. “Do be careful Keith.”

            Keith smiled. “I’ll just try and keep the thing busy until you bring the cavalry.”

            Coran started the countdown. “Five…”

             Keith gunned the engines and flew out the hanger doors into open space.

            “Four…”

            “Keith?” Shiro’s voice sounded strained over the comm. “Keith what are you doing?”

            “Buying you all time to deal with that thing!” Keith could see the beginnings of the wormhole distortion in front of him. He gunned the engines and couldn’t help the grin that came with it. This ship could _move_.

           “Keith don’t do this please.” Shiro called. “You can’t deal with that thing by yourself.”

            “Three…”

            The others were all calling for him to stop now too.

            “That ship hasn’t ever been tested!” Pidge shouted. “You have no idea what might happen-“

            “Keith don’t be an idiot!” Lance growled.

            “You don’t know what Lotor might have done to it-“ Allura yelled.

            “Two…”

            So far Coran was holding steady, the wormhole still expanding to its proper size, but with everyone calling for him to stop Keith didn’t know if that would last. He hoped Coran would understand the need, but he didn’t know.

            Hunk grunted as he kicked a tentacle off him. “C’mon Keith don’t do it-“

            “One…”

            “Please Keith…” Shiro’s voice was almost a whisper this time. “Please don’t do this again…”

            Keith’s whole body went cold at Shiro’s words. He hit the switch to respond-but disappeared into the wormhole before he had the chance to do so.

          


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry-I had really intended to get this up sooner but life had other plans.

            The golden orange glow of Olkaria sprang up before Keith as the wormhole opened again. Keith threw the thrusters forward and sped down to the planet’s surface. Lucky for Keith and the Olkari, the robeast had landed closer to the forest then the any of the cities. As he flew across the landscape Keith spotted smoke in the distance, and turned towards it.

            From the air he could see the Olkari had set up a line of defense as best they could, trying to divert the monster back into the woods, but as impressive as the Olkari weapons were they had no effect on the robeast's thick shell. Keith fired up his own lasers and slid in to make a pass.

            "Okay..." He muttered quietly to himself. "Time to see what this thing can do..."

            Keith let loose a spray of fire as he zoomed along the monster's flank. Its head was unleashing a torrent of energy into the poor Olkari, and Keith knew they couldn’t withstand that kind of fire power for very long.

            The shots Keith scored onto the monster's shell were no more effective then the Olkari's weapons, but a blast to its neck caused the beast to break off its attack and howl in pain. Its head spun up searching for the new attacker. Keith could see some of the Olkari cheering along the forest floor as they scrambled to get themselves and their wounded out of the monster’s path. Keith smiled, and then quickly had to jerk the controls to dodge an energy blast from the monster. Keith righted the ship and looped around the monster's head quickly, trying to keep it off balance. He had its attention- now he just needed to find a way to beat it.

            Keith spun into the monster's blind spot and fired three quick blasts at the back of its head. The skin was singed where the beams hit, but they'd failed to cause any real damage. Keith was about to fire another volley when the beast roared again, and twisted its head almost a full 360 degrees to fire at him. Spinning the ships wings to contort around the blast heading right for him, Keith gunned the engines, flying as close as he could to the monster's face. If he could take out its eyes-

            The robeast's neck pulled back sharply- and suddenly the head was gone. Into the shell Keith supposed. He figured something like that might happen. Still at least inside the shell it couldn't fire on anyone. If Keith could keep it turtling until Voltron arrived then maybe-

            It was instinct and reflex more then actual thought that saved Keith. As the blast came at him from behind he jerked the throttle upward, fighting to gain as much altitude as he could and figure out what in the world was happening. Well clear of the blast, Keith heard the robeast's roar and circled back cautiously.

            The beast's head had reappeared at the opposite end of its body. As Keith looked closer at the monster's shell he realized his mistake. At first glance the armor of the shell appeared to only have five openings- one for each of its legs and its head. But the monster's head had reemerged from its back. And the pattern of the shell no doubt hid countless other hatches the beast could open and worm its head through.

            Keith gritted his teeth. "So it's going to be like that..." If the robeast's could move its head and fire again that quickly a close assault would be almost impossible. Keith would only wind up flying back and forth as the head changed position. He flew forward a little ways and fired. If Keith stayed close to the maximum range of his own guns he'd be able to trade shots with the robeast and still have plenty of room to maneuver. At least in theory.

            He fired another volley catching the monster squarely below the jaw. It roared and fired back. Keith saw the light of his comm flashing repeatedly-someone was trying to call him- but right now he needed all his attention to be on the monster. They traded shots again and again, the beast howling in frustration. Keith didn't think he was really doing any damage but the monster's inability to destroy him was certainly making it angry.

            The comm flashed again. Keith rolled the ship around another blast from the beast and flicked it on.

            “I’m a little busy!” He shouted

            “Keith?” Coran’s voice sounded relived. “Oh good-

            “-Keith are you are all right?” Shiro’s voice cut across the comm.

            Keith grunted as he pulled another barrel roll and turned back to the monster. “For now-but this thing is tough.“

            “Hang in there. We’re almost-“ The comm cut out into static. Keith supposed a hit from the monster Voltron was fighting might have overloaded it. And if Voltron was still dealing with problems on their end then that meant Keith was still on his own. He eyed the monster again looking for something-anything that might give him an idea on how to take it down. As he watched the monster snaked its head through a different hole again, moving to one closer to Keith. The original hatch slid shut, and the monster threw back its head to fire.

            Inspiration struck.

            “Alright.” Keith brought the engines up to full power. “Here goes nothing…” He flew forward full speed towards the robeast’s face guns blazing. The beast fired back but Keith just kept evading it, spinning and contorting the ship. He grinned, in spite of everything. This was the kind of flying he loved, make or break with only his own skill and his ship to rely on. And the new comet ship was incredible. It had all the firepower of Lotor’s ship or one of the lions, but was faster and more maneuverable than even Red had been. Keith just couldn’t help smiling. “This ship is awesome.”

            A strange trill seemed to answer him, and Keith could almost feel a presence, not unlike when he flew Red or Black.

            Keith pulled the ship back out of the line of fire and gaped. “Is-is that you? Can you hear me?”

            The happy little warble came again, louder this time.

            “Okay then.” Keith beamed. “Let’s do this together.”

            ***

            A small explosion rocked his room again. Lotor grimaced. Another stray blast colliding with the castle's particle barrier no doubt. Lotor steadied his hands. He hadn't done this much work to make a mistake now.

            It had taken Lotor awhile to locate it-The Altean castle really was exquisitely designed- but he had eventually managed to find the hidden access panel. Lotor carefully pulled back the wires looking for the one he needed. He was through being blindly at the Paladins' mercy. Lotor needed information, and he was going to get it. _There it was_. Lotor unspooled the wire, watching it spark as he pulled it out of its housing. He carefully inserted the control panel he'd assembled. The Paladins had searched him when he came on board of course-but he hadn't survived in the Galra Empire for decades without picking up a few tricks. The buttons and bars on his suit became control keys and switches. A hidden patch inside his shirt a circuit board. Lotor smirked as the small module came to life. They were fools to under estimate him.

            Lotor called up the castle's cameras. He'd been right- they were in a battle. Against an entire Galra fleet and one of Haggar's mad beasts by the looks of it. Voltron should have no trouble dealing with either if Lotor was any judge. He cycled through the cameras looking for a view of the hanger. Somehow the comet had been built into another ship. The Paladins feigned ignorance but Lotor doubted it-he growled low in his throat as he finally found the camera he wanted. The ship was gone.

            Lotor backtracked the camera feed searching for some indication-there. One of the Paladins had taken it. Lotor zoomed in as much as he could on the small screen trying to determine the paladin's identity. _Hmm_... It looked like the one that had been questioning him recently. Lotor let the video play. The ship powered up and flew out of the hanger just a few ticks after the paladin's arrival. Lotor scanned the battle outside again but saw no sign of it. _Interesting._..but he could deal with that later. Now with everyone else focused on the battle was the perfect time for Lotor to try and access the ship’s archives. If there was a reason his comet ships reacted differently with the rift then Voltron did it was in those files. Lotor piggybacked his access to the archives in with the ships self-diagnostics and began to read. With a little luck, anyone monitoring the castle logs would just see Lotor as another of the castle's self checks.

***

            Keith raced towards the beast’s face firing. _Any minute now…_ The beast roared and pulled back its head snapping it into the shell. This was it-Keith barreled down to shell’s surface. In watching the monster Keith had noticed that after the head would retract the shell’s hatch took just a little longer to close back up. Those few seconds-that was his window. If he could get inside the shell he could destroy the robeast from the inside out. He just had to time it right.

            The hatch was just in front of him now-and barely open. Keith grimaced and poured on as much speed as he could. _Almost there._ The hatch slammed shut just shy of Keith’s ship. Keith swore and flipped the wings back to slow down and give him enough room to pull out of the dive. He’d been so close.

            “We need to find a way through that shell.” Keith grimaced. The ships hummed in agreement, but didn’t offer any help.

            Keith spun around expecting to have to dodge the monster’s fire again only to find his path clear. “Wha-where is it?”

            The beast roared, and Keith realized in horror where its head was. Below the tree line targeting- Keith groaned. “The Olkari!”

            Most of the Olkari who had come out to try and stall the beast had fled after Keith’s arrival, but a few stragglers were still making their way back to the city. The monster’s fire was heading right for them. Without even thinking about it Keith threw his ship in front of the stragglers, the force of the blast shaking the entire ship.

            “GO!” Keith shouted over the speaker as the Olkari looked up in awe. Keith appreciated their thanks but he’d appreciate them moving more-he wasn’t sure how much of this the ship could take. The last Olkari broke off running and Keith quickly got himself clear. The blast had left Keith rattled, he could only imagine it what did to his ship.

            “You okay?” He asked tentatively.

            A small warble answered him.

            “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that but I couldn’t-“

            The ship chimed happily-and somehow Keith knew it understood, approved even.

            Keith sighed. “There has to be some way through that shell…”

            The ship trilled again, and a panel slide back on Keith’s right. Beneath it was an array almost identical to the bayard slot in Red or Black. “How did you-?” Keith didn’t finish the question. The ship just seemed to know Keith. And really it didn’t matter how the array got there-Keith didn’t have a bayard to use anyways. But maybe he had something else…

            Keith reached down to his belt and grabbed his knife. “Here goes nothing…” He slid the blade into the array and turned it. Nothing happened. Keith groaned. “Well I suppose that would have been too easy…”

            The ship warbled back to him-and somehow Keith understood. He gripped the handle of his knife again, concentrating for just a moment to activate that blade. The effect was immediate. As his knife transformed, the four wings of the ship pointed forward and slid into place locking together. They began spinning rapidly, and the energy from the blade seemed to flow out into the rest of the ship, a strange energy field bathing the entire hull. Keith grinned. “Now that’s more like it.”

            He pointed the ship straight down at the monster’s shell and dove, knowing exactly what to do. The beast howled and fired at him again, but the energy blast dissipated when it collided with the energy surrounding Keith’s ship. The spinning wings, so much like blades, made contact with the beast’s shell and combined with the energy field surrounding them began to effortlessly drill through the thick shell. The robeast screamed in pain, and then Keith was already flying out the other side of the shell, a sizeable hole behind him. The beast gave one last plaintive bellow-and fell to the ground dead.

 

***

            “This is so cool!” Pidge was practically quivering with excitement. “It really reacted to you knife?”

            “Yeah.” Keith smiled and spun the blade in his hand.

            “Look at this I’ve going over my readings from the sentries and I think the ship was actually building itself-“

            “We can go over that later Pidge.” Shiro called walking up to join them. “Right now let’s just try and enjoy the moment.”

            Keith grinned. He and Shiro both knew that if Pidge got started on the science now, they wouldn’t hear the end of it.

            “Fine…” Pidge sighed. ‘But you’re letting Hunk and I run some tests on this thing tomorrow okay?”

            Keith laughed. “Sure thing Pidge.”

            That seemed enough to satisfy her, and before long she disappeared likely to go say hi to Rayner or one of the other Olkari. The whole planet seemed to be celebrating, Keith had stopped the robeast attack single handedly, and save for a few scrapes and burns no one had been too badly injured. A soild win. Keith stared out past his new ship and at the monster’s remains. “We should probably look in to some kind of early warning system.” Keith said. “If Zarkon can launch these things this far…”

            Shiro smiled. “I’m sure the Olkari can come up with something.”

            They were silent for awhile after that.

            “You had me worried again today…” Shiro finally said.

            Keith smiled. “I was fine.”

            “Yeah.” Shiro turned back to Keith’s new ship and grinned. “You having this ship does make me feel a little better.”

            Keith laughed. “You don’t trust me on my own?”

            Shiro chuckled. “Don’t forget I still remember all your test flights back at the garrison-“

            “Okay-okay.” Keith laughed. “Point taken…As for the ship…I’m thinking I’m going to call it Saber.”

            “Saber?” Shiro considered the name.

            “If it’s okay with it.” Keith took a step forward and laid his and on the ship’s hull. “What do you think? Do you like the name Saber?”

            The ship’s external lights flashed and a cheerful warble answered Keith. “Okay than.” He smiled. “Saber it is.”

            “Oh that’s so cool.” Hunk was walking towards Shiro and Keith his arms laden with several plates. “You’re letting the ship pick its own name…”

            “Hey Hunk.” Shiro smiled. “What’s with all this?”

            “Oh!” Hunk said cheerfully and set the plates down one by one on a nearby log. “I know how you two get and I didn’t want you to miss out on all the best food so I thought I’d bring you some.”

            Keith laughed. He was actually pretty hungry now that he stopped to think about it. “Thanks Hunk.”

            “No problem-just doing my job.” Hunk grinned. “Alright then I gotta go find Lance.”

            “Thanks Hunk.” Shiro called after him.

            Hunk finally found Lance just outside the castle. He was still in full paladin gear, helmet and all and scowling bitterly at his charge-Prince Lotor. The prince had insisted he be let out to stretch his legs and eat, but the princess had absolutely refused unless someone stood guard and watched him. Lance, had drawn the short straw.

            “Uggg Hunk this guy is killing me.” Lance groaned. “Nobody wants to talk with me so long as I’m on prisoner duty.”

            “Here.” Hunk laughed and passed Lance a plate of food. “Let me do one more round and then I’ll swap you.”

            Lance’s eyes immediately lit up. “Hunk you’re a life saver buddy. Is it a fun party?”

            “S’pretty good.” Hunk said tearing into is own plate of food. “I ran into Shiro and Keith. Keith named his ship. How cool is that?

            Lotor eyed the paladins carefully from just a few feet away. He really had wanted to get out of his room, but being constantly watched by these pesky Earthlings didn’t really improve his situation any. Still, observing worked both ways, and Lotor was careful to learn all he could about the paladins. Knowledge was the greatest tool any warrior could have after all.

 

***

           Lotor grinned menacingly as the young paladin entered the room.

           "Back for another round of questioning I see?"

           The victory over Hagger’s beasts-if such things could really be counted as victories given the power of Voltron-had been several days ago, and things seemed to falling back into old routines. Lotor was back in the same miserable room, and now they trotted out the same paladin to ask him questions.

           Keith sighed and sat at the table opposite Lotor. He frowned. "You were expecting me?"

           Lotor shrugged, his intense stare never leaving Keith. "It seemed like your logical next step."

           "So are you going to cooperate this time then? Keith asked.

           "Perhaps." Lotor sneered. "It seems you've taken the ship made from my comet as your own."

           "The comet was never yours." Keith huffed. "Stealing something doesn't make you the rightful owner."

           "Mm I suppose." Lotor laughed hollowly. "I heard one of your little teammates mention you even named it. May I ask why?"

            Keith shrugged. “I got tired of just calling it ship? I don't know it reminded me of this old story my dad would tell me as a kid, _The Dancing Saber_ -"

            Lotor was across the table before Keith could even react, slamming the paladin back against the wall and lifting him bodily. Lotor's hand closed around Keith's neck, his eyes ablaze with pure rage. "Where did you father hear that story? Blade of Marmora trash no doubt. If he hurt her-"

            "Wh-" Keith coughed.

            “TELL ME!” Lotor yelled. His nails drew small flecks of blood from Keith’s neck.

            “M-my” Keith coughed again struggling to catch his breath. “My mother told it to him.” He gasped.

            “What?” Lotor starred at Keith in shock.

            “I’d let go of me now.” Keith wheezed. “Or it could become very painful…”

            Lotor glanced down to find the boy’s knife pressed against his stomach, the blade having drawn a thin tear in the fabric already. Lotor hadn’t even felt it.

            “Put me down.” Keith repeated slowly. “Or I activate the blade.”

            Lotor dropped Keith and took a few steps back. Keith fell to the floor and slowly stood up, massaging his neck, all the while his grip on his knife never wavered. He eyed Lotor’s carefully. All of the fight and anger had gone out of the prince the moment Keith mentioned his mother.

            “What does that story mean?” Keith asked.

            Before Lotor could answer Lance and Hunk came storming into the room bayards drawn.

            “Get the hell away from him Lotor!” Lance shouted. “Back up nice and slow now…”

            “Wait-“ Keith started to protest. But Hunk was already grabbing him by the shoulder.

            “C’mon on buddy.” Hunk glared at Lotor, keeping himself between the prince and Keith as he pulled Keith to the door. “Let’s get those scratches patched up.”

            “I’m fine.” Keith sighed, trying to look back at Lotor. “Really.”

            “Yeah no thanks to him.” Lance huffed. “I’m locking the door and putting the practice sentry outside as a guard. He tries anything it’ll stop him.”

***

            “I told you I’m fine.” Keith rolled his eyes. He appreciated his friends caring, really he did. But he’d only gotten a few scratches, nothing serious. And Keith had the situation under control-well mostly.

            “I can’t believe Lotor would try something like this!” Allura fumed. “Attacking a paladin in our castle after we offered him safe harbor-

            Keith sighed. Allura meant well, but her feelings for Lotor were always a bit skewed. “Allura look-“

            “No.” Shiro, usually the voice of reason cut him off. “Allura’s right Keith. Lotor’s gone too far. We have to-“

            “Oh come on!” Keith said in frustration, a little louder then he had intended if his teammates’ shocked expressions were any indication. “Guys this is Lotor we’re talking about.”

            “Obviously.” Allura snapped.

            “As long as he’s been on our radar everything he’s done has seemed so calculated. Part of some bigger picture.” Keith watched Allura and Shiro carefully. “Do you really think he planned to just attack me like that? Knowing he’d still be stuck on the castle? Something I said in there got a rise out of him. If I can just figure out what-“

           “You want to talk to him again?” Shiro asked, his expression dark. “No. There’s no way I’m sending you in there with him again.”

           “ _Somebody_ has to talk to him.” Keith said impatiently. “We need the intelligence. Whose going to do it? You? Allura? The whole reason it was me in the first place-“

           “I said no Keith.” Shiro’s voice was firm, and his human hand was balled into a fist. “We’ll figure something else out…”

***

            _His mother._

            Lotor was still in shock. _Could he really be her son?_ It didn’t seem possible. And yet somehow, half way across the universe that _boy_ had come to know the story of _The Dancing Saber_. Her story. Lotor hadn’t heard the story since he was a child, hadn’t even thought of it in years not since she-

            He had to know. One way or another Lotor needed answers about this paladin. His eyes fell to his nails, flecks of the boy’s dried blood still stained them. It would be risky, but Lotor suddenly didn’t care. Throwing a glance at the door to make sure it was indeed still locked, Lotor made his way to the hidden access hatch. He slid the panel back carefully and pulled out the small module he’d installed. Very slowly he scrapped a few flecks of the paladin’s blood into the small compartment for samples and sealed it. He paused before entering the commands. There would be no going back from this. Lotor could disguise his probes into the castle’s archives easily enough, but using the castle’s sensors to perform a DNA test was bound to raise a red flag should someone examine the data log. Lotor grimaced. He had to know. He punched in the command and waited.

            A few dobashes later the module beeped with the results. Lotor examined them carefully. It was just as he had expected-half human, one quarter Galra…and one quarter Altean. The computer confirmed it. In spite of himself Lotor smiled.

_Hello nephew._


End file.
